CRAP and How it Changed My Life
by ColieBlu887
Summary: This is a mixture of a bunch of Fairy Tales, modern and Classic, Im not sure about the title, opinions wanted, please review, italics are journal entries,this isn't meant to be a great piece of work, but a cute story, written mostly for myself,still,enjoy
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_September 12_

_"Catherine Ronell's Acadamy for Princesses". In other words C.R.A.P which true to it's name it crap! I hate this stupid finishing school, with it's ettiquette, it's propriety, it's bossy know it all headmasters._

_"Aila keep your head up"_

_"Aila keep your chin down"_

_"Aila why don't you get this right?"_

_Maybe because Aila's chin is connected to her head, when one goes up the other must too! These people are such idiots. Anyways, soon i'll be back to my Kingdom of Elocin where someday i'll rule as queen! At the end of each school year, C.R.A.P. holds a ball where many suiters will show up, and maybe, if one decides to court you, you are free to leave forever!! If you aren't chosen, then of course, you come back next year. I'm 16, this is my first year here, and i will not blow it, especially since Prince Charming will be one of the suitors this year!! How romantic...but here i cam blabbering away again._

_The Kingdom of Elocin is a little poorer than the other kingdoms that princesses here go to. Ella, Cinderella's daughter is from Brabon, which is about 10 times the size of Elocin. In fact, it is the biggest kingdom in the world. I hate how the headmaster will let her have whatever little ella wishes! And here i have to work to stay at this school my country is so poor. But whatever, tomorrow is the first real day of classes, today all we did was orientation where the headmaster will place you in groups depending on skill level in deportment, ettiquette, and other usless crap. Guess who was placed in the highest group, and guess who was placed in the lowest of the five groups. Need i say that the size of your kingdom, or how much money you have can make all the difference??_

_I'm too disgusted with this school to write tonight._

_Ailenova of Elocin_

The next day, Aila was woken at the crack of dawn, before any of the other students were awake, to be intructed on what her job was to be.

"Princess? Princess Aila?" she heard a voice whisper as to not awaken any of the other girls in her dorm. "The headmistriss wants to speak with you."

"Who is this..." was the grumbled reply.

"I'm Lydia, I'm to be your maid miss, all the lady's get one, but please hurry, i was supposed to wake you just before dawn, but I always seem to be foregetting something these days..."

_Great, so she was stuck with the forgetful maid, who probably was just found in some street corner and assigned to her because they didn't want to waste a real maid on little old Aila, of the small and poor country._

"Hurry miss!"

ugh, was all Aila was thinking

Head Mistress Ronell's quarters were by far finer than any of the girls', besides maybe Ella's who got her own set of rooms instead of sleeping with the rest of the girls in the dorm. Satin sheets graced the bed. Velvet window curtains of a stunning emerald green brought warmth into the room with the toasty brown coloring on four of the walls. The one thing that spoiled the room, was the large picture of herself, Catherine Ronell, sitting on the wall opposite when you just walked in, so the first thing Aila saw as she walked into the room, was a giant portraite, of the headmistress's head.

You can't get any weirder than that, Aila realized

"Ah, Aila," a formidable voice belonging to the Headmistress herself declared, "you're late. But never mind that now, you are to help in the kitchens as a cook's helper since our last one seems to have run off with a stable hand. Every morning, you shall wake at dawn, get dressed and ready, and report to the head chef. After breakfast is served, you may join the other students for your classes. There will be no need for you to help consistantly with lunch or dinner, unless we desperately need your help. I trust you don't object to these tasks?"

Help in the kitchens!! What was she thinking, Aila of Elocin to work with the servants! When they said jobs Aila thought she'd be tutoring some of the younger children or something of that sort! Not working, as in working like servants! Still, what could she do, she needed this school to help her find a husband to rule with her, so she can finally step up as queen, what she'd been dreaming to do since she was a little girl. The ways she could help her country as queen! She'd studied with her father's old tutor every since he died 7 years ago. She keow things about economics, and geography, literature, languages, that her step-mother could only dream about! Her mother died in child-birth having her. When her father re-married, he stated that Matilda would act as regent until she had someone to rule with her. Those_ blasted documents he wrote stated it all._

After a moment's hesitation, Aila replied, "no, no problem at all"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

So with no further adieu, Aila found herself working in the kitchens, placing poached eggs in dishes, then placing the dishes on plates. Before that, though, she was introduced to the Chef and the rest of the kitchen staff. The Chef, or Christine Henreitta-Elaine Farfle, was known just as Chef. Then underneath her, was Sue, Tom, and Larry, who helped with the cooking. Then it was herself, and Lydia who placed everything on the plates, and when that was done, handed the plates to Regan and Jennifer who served all 35 of the princesses. Lydia handed her plates to Jennifer, and Aila to Regan. Regan happened to be the younger brother of Jennifer being about 17 to Jennifer's 20, but other than that no one was related, or young being mostly middle aged.

"Aila, are you done there?" Chef asked, "Good, it's show time people, start serving"

Aila picks up her first plate, and turns around right into Regan who was reaching for one, not used to having it handed to him. with a clatter, the plate fell to the floor, the contents dumped all over Aila and Regan both.

"For the love of all that is good in life, Aila that was your first plate!" Chef scolded.

Aila was just stammering, "sorry...such a clutz...first time here...didn't mean to...i swear!" She had already had a rough morning.

"It's ok, this is my first job as a servant too, we're bound to make mistakes. Forget about it, Chef always has extra aprons." was the reply.

It was then that Aila looked up, offended at being mistaken for a servant, and gazed into shades of green as emerald as the headmistress's curtains, Regan's eyes were an amazing array of deep bold color, but Aila then turned away, embarrassed at seeing such things in a kitchen boy. She noticed how Regan's hair was a dark chestnut, and how he was slim, but not gangly, and judging on how his arms were practically bursting from his shirt, Aila noticed how toned out and muscular he must be.

"I'm...I'm not..." was all she got out, as Regan swiftly undid his own apron and grabbed two off the rack, handing on to Aila.

"We'd better hurry up, or Chef will accuse us of, in her words, Lollygagging." With that Regan grabbed a plate on his own as Aila stared desperately after him with the clean apron in her hands.

"Hey, you!" Chef shouted "Quit lollygagging!"

Somehow, Aila got through that first meal. After breakfast, the rest of the princesses would retire to the dorms to fix themselves up, and would then report to there first class. It was during this time that Aila helped clean, being assigned washing dishes, with Regan drying them.

"So, i never did catch your name," Regan started conversationally

"I never mentioned it, it's Aila"

"Oh, weird, I heard one of the princesses mentioning an Ailenova who apparently wasn't at breakfast. Fancy that! Your name could be short for Ailenova, haha! "

"Well, actually-"

"Don't you hate those princesses!" Regan went on not noticing her attempt at an interruption, "Just this morning, prime example of snotty bratty girls, this one princess, Ellenor, or Ella was her name started ordering me about so i barely got everyone their food ontime. wasn't her mother known as Cinderella because of all the work she did? wouldn't you think that they would have a little bit of respect for the lower class, them being blasted princesses and all? But no, they're all alike those princesses, whiny lazy brats." That having been said Regan started drying dishes a little too fiercely, but miraculously didn't break any.

Aila didn't know what to say to that, should she confess to being one of those bratty princesses, making them both awkward, or should she just go along with it? Besides, Regan only served breakfast, for lunch and dinner he would help cook, so it's not like he would ever serve her. The only two people in this kitchen who knew who she really was, were Lydia, who'd probably not notice anything going on, and Chef, who was busy enough already. The right thing to do would be not to embarass anyone, Aila decided, and i guess who cares if this servant doesn't know i'm a princess, it's not like it will make any difference.

"Yah, those blasted Princesses can be a real pain," Aila replied, "I'm glad i only work mornings here.

"Oh? so where do you work the rest of the day?"

"Ummm...kinda complicated...I..."Aila panicked, she hadn't thought of that, "Oh, i stay home and i just take care of the house. The rest of my famliy works, so it's not necessary i work all the time."

"wow, that must be nice, to come here in the morning, and then just leave, and have the entire day to yourself" Regan said in a wistful tone. He must've liked to do just that, at the moment.

Wow is right, that was close. Aila didn't realize that Regan would actually talk to her, and ask her questions, and she felt bad lying to him. Maybe she should just go back and tell him the truth. No, it's too late now, that would only make things really awkward, and wasn't that what she was trying to avoid?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Throughout the day, Aila would have three classes consecutively in the morning, which would be followed by a lunch break, then she would have two more classes, and a study period before a three hour free period, where ladies could socialize, go into town, or practice what they'd learned. Dinner was served promptly at 6:00pm every evening, likewise lunch at noon, and breakfast at 8:00.

In her first class, Deportment, the Mistress incharge was to be called only Ms. Deportment because her family was so fond of her, they each wanted to name her something different, so she ended up having many names, which are Donna, Elise, Penelope, Ophelia, Rachel, Tina, Molly, Elsie, Nina, and her last name was Travis. Here, Aila was scolded for being late, and for not knowing the differences between curties.

In her second Class Writing, the Mistress in charge was to be called only Ms. Pen, which was short for Penelope, but she didn't like the name Penelope so she shortened it. In this class, Aila was sure she would excel, as her handwriting was perfect, and her literary skilled were unmatched in all of Elocin. Still, this writing was about how to write a letter to a suitor, as opposed to the queen let'ssay. Aila had never written her step-mother, the queen, as she suspected the Matilda couldn't read very well, and needless to say Aila had never had a suitor. Aila knew that she had plain features, pale skin, dark hair that contrasted with her skin a little too much in her opinion, and according to her, the only redeemable feature she had, were her blue eyes, but nice eyes apparently weren't enough to attract attentions of princes in the neighboring kingdoms. Now, although Aila saw herself as very plain, she didn't know that almost every one she met, thought her actually very beautiful. She had pale skin, yes, but it was anything but washed out, and seemed to glow, her hair contrasted her skin slightly, yes, but it was a rich shade of Brownish Black, and was so thick and silky, that her hair alone might have attracted attention to her. Her eyes, were the only features Aila gave justice to, as they were a striking, piercing blue, that showed depth, understanding, and wisdom. Aila was petite, but with a strong personality so no one she met found her weak, that is why in her next class, a certain princess was jealous, and decided to become an enemy.

The last class of the morning was Ballroom Dancing, tought by the Headmistress Ronell, herself. The ladies were instructed to change into the ballroom gown, they had brought with them, and to then report back the the ballroom. Thank goodness Aila knew how to put on a ballroom gown by herself, because Lydia was no where insight. After about 10 minutes, the princesses, who dressed fast because of their maids made it down to the ballroom, and Aila came down five minutes after.

"Aila, you're late, yet again, if you make this a habit we are going to have to see some punishment," Headmistress scolded. "Now that we're all here, i may start to instruct you on the finer points of the art of ballroom dancing. This may well be the most important class here at C.R.A.P. so listen up. As we all know, the Crown Prince of Alef will be here, and his country is the richest country, excluding of course, yours, Ella, my dear. He will be this year's incentive, for anyone who happens to be chosen by him, will by all means have a country rich and prosperous as long as you live. So, the lady with the highest achievments at the end of the year, will have the first dance with Prince Richard. Now the first step to this dance is very..."

Now, Aila wasn't listening anymore, the words rich and prosperous were ringing in her mind. I'm going to be the best in the year, Aila decided, i need to marry that prince, for Elocin. Aila knew she couldn't marry for love, so why not marry for money? For the good of her country? With that resolve, Aila was determined to work hard, to make sure that no one was as accomplised as her.

"Aila! Pay attention!" Headmistress rebuked.

Gaining the tite of the best, might be harder than Aila ever imagined.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lunch that day, was the first time, Aila actually got to socialize with her fellow princesses, and to no surprise, she found them all prissy snobs. Of her 34 other classmates, 15 were just the usual snobs, nothing extraordinary, not very bright, and very boring. If it was up to them, ribbons would be the purpose to life. Color and texture of the most expensive ribbons imaginable were their main source of conversation this lunch period, and seemingly, managed to be their main source of conversation for their entire lives.

"I saw this yellow silk ribbon at Harrod's the other day, for 175! It was a little pricy, and the ribbon was only 6 in. long, but i had to have it, so i charged it!"

"Well, i saw a pink and purple checkered satin ribbon, and it was 599, isn't that a bargain for checkers! I can't wait to wear it!"

"Don't you just love ribbons!"

"Yes!"

"Yay!"

Aila felt ready to puke after just listening to 5 minutes of that conversation. She had never seen anyone so enthusiastic about ribbons in her life, and so foolish too! And here were 15 brainless idiots, who did nothing but adore them. Well, thought Aila, at least i know i won't be getting any competition from them in getting top honors of the class.

The next group consists of what Aila liked to call Primary Snobs, Ella was in this group (what a surprise) and seemed to lead it with Whitney, who was of some relation to Snow white, except that she was blonde, with tan skin, and so appeared anything but a family member of the "Fairest of them All". Still, Whitney liked to wear the flowing morning gowns that Snow White wears, so that she makes it a little more known that she is related to the famous princess.All that's really accomplished, however, is that Whitney looks like a grown girl in too small, too juvenile, ugly morning dresses. Despite her questionable appearance, Whitney was VERY bossy, and had a lot of money, and where money speaks for itself, she and Ella became fast friends. For some stupid reason, everyone (even the ribbon girls) seemed to look up to Ella and Whitney. Ella and Whitney always had their particular circle of friends, but they aren't worth mentioning, being barely any smarter than the ribbon girls. And then the rest of the princesses, were just normal, gossiping, haven't a care in the world, spoiled princesses.

After Lunch, Aila reported to Embroidering, taught by Mistress Sue. Again, Aila was totally ignorant of embroidering, as there was little time to embroider at Elocin as all time was spent paying off debts, and trying to make ends meet. Still, Aila knew how to sew, having made all her dresses herself because it cost too much to hire someone. So, for once, Aila was taken out of the younger group, and placed with the older girls. Before long, Aila was the top of the class. Mistress Sue was praising her work , and teaching her more advanced techniques, and all the while Ella and Whitney stared bloody murder at her.

And finally, the last class of the day, flower arranging, taught by Mistress Petunia. In this class too, Aila started to excel, having an eye for art. It was in this class that she found out about the optional music course that took place during the free study period. So, thinking that she needed to take the course to have top honors, Aila found herself outside Mistress Notalia's class room. Aila peeked inside, and was surprised not to see the usual desks and chairs, but a grand room with a stage and multiple red velvet seats. On the stage was a grand piano, and a stool.

"What would you like, dear?" asked a rich musical voice.

"Is this the right place for the music course?" Aila asked uncertainly, for although the room was large and impressive, it was also very, very empty.

"You're kidding surely, no one at C.R.A.P. has ever done more work than they were expected of, no one here appreciates the true art of musical ability, except i thought they didn't, i'm only here because i happen to be a good friend of the headmistress, and so she couldn't dream of firing me. And so what, may i ask, are you, my dear, doing here?" Mistress Notalia asked dramatically.

"I want to take your class, if you're willing." was the hesitant reply

"If I'm willing, well of course i'm willing you're my first student!" and with that, Mistress Notalia ushered up Aila to the stage, and proceeded to start playing on the piano. "Now, my dear, just hum along if you don't know the words, this is from my home country, so you probably won't know it, but it has a very far range, so keep humming so i can see where you stand."

Here, Notalia started a complicated introduction full of trills in the upper part of the treble clef. As soon as Aila heard this she recognized the song, and continued to sing it flawlessly. Aila's passion had always been playing piano, and singing. Whenever anything was wrong, or her step mother had pushed her a little too far, Aila would play on her little stand up mahogany piano, which was the only gift she had received from her mother. Also, Aila had her mother's remarkable musical talent, and hit all the notes with utmost perfection. As the song came to an end with various chords, and yet even more trills, Mistress Notalia stood up and applauded.

"That was the best performance of that song, that i have ever heard. Not many know that piece, as it was originated in Elocin, my country, how did you know it?"

"Well, i happen to be the princess of Elocin" was the reply.

After hearing this piece of information, Mistress Notalia was ecstatic. The rest of the lesson was spent with Mistress Notalia, and Aila happily switching off singing, and playing the piano, and in their joy of the music, they didn't notice two sneaking bodies, peak through the door, and spy on them.

"Can you believe this! That pauper going to lessons of music without telling anyone! Thinking she will have better accomplishments than the rest of us, so she can have the first dance with the prince! Well, i've got news for her, she is the last one, to ever consider dancing with Prince Richard. Sure, her voice is pretty, but she's not the only one who can sing, right Whitney?"

"You're right Ella, you are very right, that pauper needs to be put in her place. We can help her with that, can't we?"

"Yes, yes we can." was the whispered reply.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next morning, Aila woke herself up at dawn (she figured Lydia was gone for good as she was no where to be found, and she didn't want to ask for another maid, afraid of what the headmistress might say to her, the "pauper" princess). In the kitchens, Aila found herself again, placing eggs on plates for the high maintenance princesses.

"Ready for the tough crowd?" a voice that seemed a little too familiar for Aila's comfort, where had she heard that voice before?

"I'm never ready for the princess brats," was the reply. She turned around to see that Regan still had those stunning green eyes, accented by the school colors (emerald and pearl, not green and white), Aila also noticed the deep chestnut of his gleaming hair that seemed almost as dark as hers, but with a little more brown in it.

"So, no uniform today?" oops, in a rush, Aila had only put on one of her, what she liked to call, "house gowns", which were less formal than morning gowns, but still very inappropriate for servants.

"Um...I can explain...its just that-"

"Hey, don't worry, we all forget sometimes, trust me, its hard for me to put on this ugly uniform day after day too, its a big difference from what I'm used to."

"You're a servant, though, what do you mean your not used to wearing servant garb?" Aila questioned.

"Oh..i...was just implying..." here Regan paused uncertainly and looked over at his sister Jennifer (Jenny) who just looked anxious, and nodded encouragement. "that i used to work in a manor that had many different uniforms so we could choose our wardrobe, and have variety," was the response, that seemed to be said a little too fast.

"That's interesting, I've never heard of such a place, where was this?" Now it was Aila who was making Regan uncomfortable, instead of the other way around, like before. Aila found she liked it better this way.

"Well.. um...-"

"Hurry up you two, quit lollygagging!" Chef scolded.

That shouted order saved Regan from finishing his reply, as both Aila and Regan found they had been falling behind in stacking plates. Unfortunately Lydia had done most of the work the last time the job needed to be done, but now Aila found Regan was just as slow as she was, and so forced herself to work faster to get the job done. After the hectic breakfast with the snotty princesses was over, Aila hurriedly ate her own breakfast, and started washing. She still needed enough time to change into her princess uniform for classes.

"If only there was one princess with a single redeeming quality out there," Regan started conversationally, "did you see the group of princesses that are infatuated with ribbons? It made me want to puke!"

"Funny, I happen to know the princesses you're talking about. Griselda is the worst of the lot, she's supposedly a descendant of sleeping beauty, but of course, no one questions her because she has all the proof she needs."

"Really? What proof is that?"

"It's rumored her maid can never wake her up in the morning, she has to resort to pulling Griselda out of her bed, and then pouring a bucketful of water on her head."

"Seriously!" Regan started laughing out loud.

"Yup, but in my opinion, it's just because Griselda is a sound sleeper, with a body her size, she needs sleep. She had three helpings of eggs, toast, juice, and fruit this morning, and potions aren't very small."

"Ha ha, you're horrible, so she's a little, um, full around the waist, she isn't the worst one of the lot." Regan admitted.

"You're right, Ella and Whitney are, they must have sent back their trays five times before they even touched a morsel of food, and even then they didn't so much as take more than a mouthful of the breakfast they deemed i quote 'adequate'. Chef was fuming about their behavior!"

"You seem to have a partial dislike for the two of them, why is it?" Regan perceived.

"Well, they just aren't friendly to me like they are to the other girls, we're the same age, and everything, its just that they don't treat me with respect...-"oh CRAP! Aila thought. She'd forgotten her place again. She was talking as if she were Ella and Whitney's equal! Only hope Mr. Perceptive wasn't so perceptive anymore.

"You're a servant, why would they treat you with respect, when they don't treat their equals like equals! I heard yesterday, they were rude and cold to another princess, Ailenova i believe, the one that might have shared your name. Funny, i didn't see her at breakfast this morning, and she wasn't here yesterday either..."

"Oh," Aila started, relieved that the conversation was starting to turn away from herself, to princess Ailenova, wait! That was herself! "She doesn't like eating with the other snobby princesses. She really isn't like the other girls."

"How would you know?" Regan questioned.

"Well, I happen to be her maid! I just was employed as i was going home yesterday. Lydia used to have the position, but then she disappeared, so there i was!"

"Congratulations! I figure it must be a big deal to be a maid to a princess, at least for you, a servant." Regan mused

Aila looked at the time, she had to leave now, or she'd be late for her first class with Mistress Deportment.

"Can you finish up here, i believe Princess Ailenova might be needing my assistance right about now, her class starts soon."

"No problem, I'll see you around, Aila" Regan shouted after her, as Aila was already dashing up the stairs.

Aila ran through the hallways, thinking one thing, "I hope he doesn't suspect me too much." And believe it or not, as soon as she left, Regan was thinking the exact same thing.


End file.
